A Challenge
A bull imprisoned in a stallBroke boldly the confining wall,And found himself, when out of bounds,Within a washerwoman's grounds.Where, hanging on a line to dry,A crimson skirt inflamed his eye.With bellowings that woke the dead,He bent his formidable head,With pointed horns and gnarly forehead;Then, planting firm his shoulders horrid,Began, with rage made half insane,To paw the arid earth amain,Flinging the dust upon his flanksIn desolating clouds and banks,The while his eyes' uneasy whiteBetrayed his doubt what foe the brightRed tent concealed, perchance, from sight.The garment, which, all undismayed,Had never paled a single shade,Now found a tongue--a dangling sock,Left carelessly inside the smock:"I must insist, my gracious liege,That you'll be pleased to raise the siege:My colors I will never strike.I know your sex--you're all alike.Some small experience I've had--You're not the first I've driven mad."
Words in this poem
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- boldly adv.
- In a bold manner. [AS. bealdlice.]
- gnarly a.
- Full of knots; knotty; twisted; crossgrained.
- horrid a.
- Rough; rugged; bristling. [L. horridus. See Horror, and cf. Ordure.]
- amain adv.
- With might; with full force; vigorously; violently; exceedingly. [Pref. a- + main. See 2d Main, n.]
- sock n.
- A plowshare. Edin. Encyc. [F. soc, LL. soccus, perhaps of Celtic origin.]
- insist v. i.
- To stand or rest; to find support; -- with in, on, or upon. [F. insister, L. insistere to set foot upon, follow, persist; pref. in- in + sistere to stand, cause to stand. See Stand.]
- liege a.
- Sovereign; independent; having authority or right to allegiance; as, a liege lord. [OE. lige, lege, F. lige, LL. ligius, legius, liege, unlimited, complete, prob. of German origin; cf. G. ledig free from bonds and obstacles, MHG. ledec, ledic, ]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Challenge is in the public domain. This text is taken from Shapes of Clay (1903), Project Gutenberg ebook #12658; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Ambrose Bierce, A Challenge, in Shapes of Clay (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12658, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bierce-shapes-of-clay/a-challenge.html, id L28106.
Form and metre
A Challenge is 27 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 59% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 AABBCCDDDDEEFFGGGHHIIJJKKLL stallA · wallA · boundsB · groundsB · dryC · eyeC · deadD · headD · foreheadD · horridD · insaneE · amainE · flanksF · banksF · whiteG · brightG · sightG · undismayedH · shadeH · sockI · smockI · liegeJ · siegeJ · strikeK · alikeK · hadL · madL
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| A bull imprisoned in a stall | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Broke boldly the confining wall, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| And found himself, when out of bounds, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Within a washerwoman's grounds. | 8 | ········ |
| Where, hanging on a line to dry, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| A crimson skirt inflamed his eye. | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| With bellowings that woke the dead, | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| He bent his formidable head, | 8 | ···/˘˘˘· |
| With pointed horns and gnarly forehead; | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Then, planting firm his shoulders horrid, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Began, with rage made half insane, | 8 | ˘/····˘/ |
| To paw the arid earth amain, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Flinging the dust upon his flanks | 8 | /˘······ |
| In desolating clouds and banks, | 8 | ·/˘˘˘··· |
| The while his eyes' uneasy white | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Betrayed his doubt what foe the bright | 8 | ˘/······ |
| Red tent concealed, perchance, from sight. | 8 | ··˘/˘/·· |
| The garment, which, all undismayed, | 8 | ·/˘····˘ |
| Had never paled a single shade, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Now found a tongue--a dangling sock, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Left carelessly inside the smock: | 8 | ·/˘˘˘/·· |
| "I must insist, my gracious liege, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| That you'll be pleased to raise the siege: | 8 | ········ |
| My colors I will never strike. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| I know your sex--you're all alike. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Some small experience I've had-- | 8 | ··˘/˘˘·· |
| You're not the first I've driven mad." | 8 | ·····/˘· |
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